The Chronicles of the New Lighty Family

In the 7 months since Baby Lighty’s arrival, Mr Lighty and I have been out as a couple a total of… zero times. So as I sat and started to write this post on the train into London yesterday, without a Baby Lighty attached to me in the sling and with a Mr Lighty by my side, it was with a mixture of feelings: a cloudy concoction of vague excitement and nostalgia for when it was just Mr & Mrs Lighty, a sense of freedom at not having to lug my massive change bag, buggy, and a change of clothes (I assumed that no one was going to be sick on me!) and, of course, a mother’s anxiety.

For you see, this was the very first time that Baby Lighty had been looked after by anyone other than Mr or Mrs Lighty. The very first time! He was in very capable hands with Mummy Hatchy, I knew that, but I also knew that she, too, was feeling the nerves, having told me that her afternoon’s activities, when not playing with Baby Lighty, were to consist of shredding paperwork and sorting out the dining room side board – basically activities whereby she could keep a close eye on Baby Lighty.

As we stepped out of the station in London Mr Lighty said “Oh no, we’ve left Baby Lighty on the train!”. As much as he was joking, my stomach lurched, because it really did feel like we’d forgotten something. Similarly, no sooner had our food arrived in Byron Burger than had it been eaten, having got into the habit of gulping down our meals in order to attend to Baby Lighty. We were on a date, where was the leisurely dinner full of grown up chat? Did we even have anything to talk about any more other than Baby Lighty?! First parent date selfie!Actually able to enjoy a dinner (and a milkshake!) without being interupted or having to share it with a little tiny person!

Yummy Byron Burgers!

As it turned out, yes we did have plenty to talk about, and it was nice to be able to discuss things properly without being interrupted by a little tiny person every few minutes. But I won’t lie, there was still lots of talk of Baby Lighty and even a little look back at photographs of him. Still, it felt a little bit like it used to be, when it was just Mr and Mrs Lighty, as we strolled through the streets of Shoreditch after our meal, en route to a friend’s leaving do, stopping to look at and photograph the likes of the love locks and the shabby-chic architecture…Mrs Lighty very rarely gets to stop and just look nowadays, and the only photos I seem to take are of Baby Lighty (a beautiful subject, but still!).

Enjoying a little bit of Shoreditch scenery and photography like Mr and Mrs Lighty used to enjoy on their travels!

And we really needn’t have worried, Baby Lighty really was in safe hands with Mummy Hatchy, as her Whatsapp pictures confirmed. However, it was always going to be the case: first dates are the hardest.

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22 thoughts on “First Dates”

Ah, I am glad you managed to enjoy your first date. My first date was 6 weeks after I gave birth. My ex’s insistence that we “get our lives back”. It was far too soon for me. I wanted to be at home with my baby. I love the photo by the way. #fartglitter

Glad you had a chance to get out! Ours was about two months in and we went to the local half school pantomime… We ended up with seats right at the front and were the only people there unaccompanied by kids. It was such a good laugh though, I’m glad we went. 🙂 #marvmondays

Glad you managed to find some together time for you both. It’s really important but so hard if you don’t have a babysitter locally. Your date sounds amazing and I love the photo. Hope you get to have another date soon

Awww this is a lovely post, I remember the panicky feeling that I had when I left Alfie for the 1st time and then when I left both kids for the 1st time I was petrified (for about 5 mins then euphoric!), I only wish we had more dates at the moment. Looks like you had an ace time! Thanks for linking up #bestandworst

I can remember our first date like yesterday – we went to the Beefeater round the corner from my Mums at 5pm and were back by 6!! Rubbish…nowadays, babysitters for two are even harder to come by, so when we get the opportunity we relish it. Definitely due a date night soon… x MMT Thanks for sharing with #coolmumclub!

Ahh yes I remember our first date post baby was a little weird, and I think our photos came out too! We try to go out once among alone although I’m now pregnant again we’ve let it drop. You have inspired me to get a date in the diary xx #fartglitter